The Silliest Dream

POEM

THEMES: Death / Grief / Imagination / Reconciliation.
(Originally published as a children’s picture book of the same name. Illustrations by Ingrid Berzins)

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One night as I lay asleep in my bed,
The silliest dream came into my head.

I dreamt that the world was covered in ice,
And all of the people had turned into mice,
And all of the rivers and all of the trees,
Were frosty and still, as still as you please.

I look at the ice, I look at the sky,
I look as the mice go scurrying by.

I open my mouth and struggle to speak,
But all the words freeze and fall at my feet.
I lift up my arms, as heavy as lead,
And wave them around up over my head.

But none of the mice can see I am there,
Or maybe they can and don't really care. 

Next thing I know I'm standing on mars!
And all of the mice have turned into stars,
And all of the snow and all of the light,
Has melted away into the night.

I look at the dark, I look at the stars,
I look at myself floating on Mars.

Then something happens that's hard to explain,
And after it happens it rains and it rains,
And all of the stars splutter and hiss,
Leaving the heavens all shrouded in mist.

I look as the stars splutter and hiss,
I look for myself lost in the mist.

I feel like I might have been missing for years,
When all of a sudden the mistiness clears,
And high above home I circle the air,
Flying in wait for the sun to appear.

And that’s where it ends, it’s silly I know,
The mist and the mice, the ice and the snow.
Then just as I wake I hear someone say,
Like they’re a star that’s far, far away...

"My love shines on," and I know what they mean,
And that’s why I call it my silliest dream.

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